Anderson Style Shop

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When the railroad bypassed Demersville in 1891, many businessmen loaded their buildings onto log rollers, hauling them three miles to the newly platted community of Kalispell. This lot became home to a two-story Demersville building, occupied first by a grocery, then by the Pacific Union Tea Company, and then, in the 1920s, by a “ladies furnishings” store. Around 1928, Carl Anderson, who ran the Orpheum, Liberty, and Roxie Theaters, opened Anderson Style Shop, hiring a manager to run “the headquarters for style and correctness in Kalispell.” In 1941, Anderson asked Kalispell’s premiere architect Fred Brinkman to design this modern showcase. It cost Anderson $17,500 to raze the original wooden building and replace it with a fitting home for his fashion-forward business. Travertine siding, copper alloy bands, and glass block combine to present a sleek yet fanciful façade. A heraldic crest flanked by sea horses crowns the high style building.